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Friday, October 14, 2016

Mayorgate
has, over the years, focused on many serious and important issues
dealing with law, legislation, environment, community, and much more.
This article examines the most base human traits, which when
identified and brought to the light leave little to be proud of. Yet
there is no shortage of government officials who's actions are never
questioned, businessmen who cut corners for profit at the expense of
law and legislation, or greedy poachers butchering animals for
demands based on superstition. In this article the stage is a
supermarket – Sobeys to be exact – and what has played out leaves
much to be questioned. Due to the volume of material present, a
two-part format has been necessitated to do the situation justice.
Unlike previous articles, voice recordings, documents, even names of
witnesses have been left out due to legal requirements ahead.

Surviving
in today's economy is not an easy thing, and Canada is not the land
of milk and honey that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau likes to paint.
An ever increasing portion of the workforce is becoming a part-time
workforce. For employers this is something quite beneficial as they
do not have to provide any of the costly benefits such as paid
vacation or sick leave. Yet the workers who keep business moving are
mainly left to the mercy of the employer.

Statistics
Canada puts the number of part-time employees in Canada at 3,387,300
as of 2015. As a part-time employee, hours are cut by managers at
will to reduce weekly operating costs. Staff are hired, even
over-hired, so that there are too many people on the roster to be
able to give an adequate number of hours to any one individual. The
retail and hospitality industries are predominately staffed by
part-time employees, and these industries are the backbone of any
thriving economy.

I
walked onto this playing field as a novice, never before having
experienced life as a part-timer nor had I worked in a supermarket
environment prior to this. The position I had taken was as an
In-Store Chef at Sobeys; what lured me to this was a concept that
Sobeys had which was unique and in many ways exciting. As the
in-store chef my task was to present food and ideas to customers
directly, not from corporate printed recipe cards or famous
television personality cooks on weekly flyers. My station was
located directly on the floor of the supermarket between three of the
major departments: produce, meat and deli. Customer traffic was
guaranteed although soon enough it did not matter whether an
individual passed my station or went by another route; the aromas of
cooking permeating the store brought people to the Chef's Station.

At
the time that I had started, the store manager David Camilleri at
Sobeys Scott Street in St. Catharines took a gamble and gave me full
carte blanche as far as what I cooked. We had often spoken how
statistics in Canada revealed that only two out of five households
cooked full meals regularly on a weekly basis. I wanted to change
that, at least in the small corner of the city I lived. On any given
day, Sobeys customers would walk into the store welcomed by aromas of
apple cider infused with fresh peach and pear bubbling on the
portable cook top, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Cuban Sandwiches or
Moroccan Kefka Kebabs. It was a success and it only took a few
months to make it so. At times I would hand out recipes to a couple
of hundred people in a single day, prompting the opening of a food
website, www.unleashyourtaste.com, so as to provide a better service
to the customer base. I represented Sobeys, as Team Sobeys, in local
chili cook-offs and school tours of youngsters, providing an
opportunity to speak on the value of good nutritional choices without
sacrificing great flavour for a healthy body. All with the continued
support of store manager David Camilleri, who had surpassed my
expectations and goals for the Chef's Station.

Although
my success guaranteed that my hours were regular and high enough in
volume, the longer I worked in this environment the more I came to
realise it was the modern day reboot of indentured servitude. Few of
the part-time staff were safe from hours being cut, the concept of
over-hiring was ripe, and complaining could find repercussions.
Sobeys as a corporation has this idea of Engagement; in theory not so
bad, in practice something else. Representatives are chosen from
each department to the Engagement Committee headed by an Engagement
Champion. At Sobeys Scott Street the Engagement Champion was Lori
Marsh. Overall the concept was simple, as a committee issues
relating to morale, health and safety, staff concerns of any kind,
and on the reverse, company concerns would be discussed. Lori Marsh
would try and let all staff know that anyone could speak to her in
confidence without fear of reprisal from management. I was a member
of the committee as staff trusted me and would speak to me on many
issues.

Things
changed dramatically in June 2015. My chef's station was becoming
more popular, drawing in regular customers. I had created a network
of cross-selling with all departments in the store as a result of my
recipes. By then I had represented the Sobeys brand name and
specifically the Scott Street store in three chili cook-offs, outside
any job description or expectation. I believed that I had proven the
value of my work and the value of being a member of a team, the
Sobeys' team.

Outside
my work as a chef I have published this website for several years.
My articles span the cobweb of society delving into environmental
issues, conservation, politics and more. Store Manager David
Camilleri was fully aware of my website and my community involvement
commenting more that once how his wish was to bring his store closer
to the community. All of this was completely separate to my work as
a chef and completely removed from my position as a member of the
Sobeys team. Yet whilst I was on duty at my place of work, at the
Sobeys store, I became the target of harassment.

Workplace
harassment is normally a very serious issue for any employer. The
Ministry of Labour, through Bill 168, instructs that all employers
formulate a separate harassment policy and post a copy in a position
where all staff may have access to it. Sobeys Inc. has a “Violence
and Harassment in the Workplace Prevention Policy,” and at the
Scott Street store it is posted on a notice board leading to the
staff room. One of the guidelines it describes as prohibited conduct
is, “Using aggressive or hostile language, or engaging in
conduct that would be offensive or intimidating to a reasonable
person.” Further, under the heading Management Obligations it
states, “Contact immediately either Human Resources, Health and
Safety or Loss Prevention for confirmed breaches of this Policy and
when appropriate contact the local Police agency.” Whether it
is Bill 168, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, or Sobeys' own
harassment policy, one point is clear: any reports of harassment are
taken seriously and investigated immediately.

On
June 20th 2015, as I was working at my chef's station, an
individual came into the store. He stood some ten feet away from me
holding a bag of cherries and simply stared at me with an angry look
for some eight minutes without taking his eyes off me. He then moved
to another position some ten feet away and continued to stare
directly at me. I knew who the individual was as I had serious
issues with him. Brian McMullan was the former mayor of St.
Catharines and his intent on the day was clear. Whilst Brian
McMullan played out his game of harassment he was witnessed by senior
staff. One of the individuals who witnessed this bizarre incident
said she felt so uncomfortable about it that she wanted to call the
police.

In
addition to witnesses there are security cameras placed throughout
the store for obvious reasons. As my chef's station was situated at
the junction of three departments, there were several cameras which
would have my station in their line of sight. I reported this to the
Store Manager as is required by both Ministry of Labour regulations
and Sobeys' own policy. In addition to reporting the harassment I
requested access to the security video as it would legally be my
right, and that was when the insanity began.

On
July 5th 2015 another equally bizarre incident occurred.
Again whilst working at my chef's station, I was approached by an
individual from the meat department. He told me that he saw a man
standing at an angle behind me take what appeared to be photos of me
with his cell phone. The individual from the meat department was the
Assistant Department Manager, a man not known for any flights of
fancy, so I took him very seriously. As he pointed out the fellow I
approached him and asked if he took photos of me. I did not get any
indignant response or denial, only a cold simple “nope.”

At
that time I knew that I recognised his face but I could not put a
name to that face. I then saw him walk around the deli counter and
speak to the Assistant Store Manager Lynn Walbourne. Then he walked
past the chef's station and without stopping said to me that he spoke
to my store manager. He then walked two produce isles and then stood
there, watching me for more than five minutes. I spoke with the
Assistant Meat Manager who confirmed what he saw. Then I spoke to
Lynn Walbourne who said that this person had stopped next to her,
showed her the home screen on his cell phone and said that he did not
take any photos of staff. Lynn Walbourne described him as “kinda
creepy.” Later that evening I went through some files and put
a name to the face, it was Christopher Bittle, a lawyer with
Lancaster, Brooks & Welch – Brian McMullan's lawyer. The
following day I brought a photo of him to show the Assistant Meat
Manager and Lynn Walbourne who both confirmed it was the individual
from the previous day.

Once
again I reported this to Store Manager David Camilleri and once again
I requested access to the security video. Camilleri said that he
would review the video and talk to me then. Several weeks went by
and no response on the issue came from Camilleri. Finally, towards
the end of July, I was called into the Manager's office. I went up
with my recorder on. In the office sitting at the monitor was Bakery
Manager Shari Chastelet. David Camilleri said he was too busy so he
asked Shari Chastelet to view the video, Chastelet turned to me and
said she had no idea who she was looking for, she thought she was
looking for a shoplifter, all of which I recorded. Camilleri then
said that I would need a court order to get access to the security
video. At no time was I given an opportunity to sit with Camilleri
or Walbourne to view the video, as a victim of harassment I counted
very little.

In
late June 2015, I was approached by Assistant Store Manager Lynn
Walbourne at my chef's station where she told me that there were two
worrying transfer invoices which she and Camilleri wanted to talk to
me about. I followed Lynn up to the office with my recorder on, by
this time I knew I was not in what would be considered a 'safe' work
environment. During the twenty or so minute meeting with Camilleri
and Walbourne, my work habits, sample sizes, even types of recipes
were pulled apart. It was apparent that two invoices totaling $3000
over two months were transferred to me from the Produce Department.

As
the in-store chef I used product from all departments and provided a
monthly accounting of all that I used directly to each department
manager. Whatever product I used was then transferred to
administration and that particular department would not have to write
off the dollar value form their budgets as a loss, which would be
referred to as Shrink. I told Camilleri that $3000 of produce in two
months was an enormous amount, that it was impossible for me to use
so much. Then I dropped my news on Camilleri: that I had all the
originals of every invoice that I provided to each and every
department manager. I had been a chef for too many years in a number
of countries, I knew how to keep records and the need to keep those
records for myself. Camilleri asked if I would give him copies which
I naturally agreed to do. Upon leaving both Camilleri and Walbourne,
both knew that they had fraud on their hands, and I fought hard to
stop myself from saying it out loud.

It
took about two weeks, I copied all the invoices for produce and
tallied them at the current prices. Camilleri was given copies for
nine months, not only two, and the total for the nine months was only
a couple of dollars over $1000! Now it became crystal clear that the
Produce Manager Angela Ciestakhad committed fraud in order to
reduce her shrink values. I was concerned about what was on my
record, at that point Camilleri assured me that he would make sure
nothing damaging would be on my record and that he would investigate
the whole matter.

Several
weeks went by with no comment from Camilleri. On August 15th
2015 I served David Camilleri with a Motion Record, regarding the
security surveillance video as I was told by Camilleri I would have
to do. The Motion Record is an official court document which was to
request a judge to review all material supporting my request for the
security video and provide an Order to Sobeys for the video to be
turned over to me. Eight days later I was called into the manager's
office by Assistant Manager Lynn Walbourne. As I came into the lunch
room Walbourne asked me to come with her, she said nothing else. She
opened the door to her office and with her hand on my back walked me
in and shut the door behind me. Walbourne did not enter the office.

Sitting
in a line were Kelly Turner, Human Resource Manager, Christine Argue
from Loss Prevention,and Ian Birney from Human Resources.
Turner said they were there to do an investigation into the
harassment report by me. First of all the initial report was of an
incident dating back to June 20th, secondly and most
importantly Turner sat with her legs folded holding the Motion Record
on her lap. I turned on my recorder, as did Turner, and I said that
this was not a proper investigation, that it went beyond legal
grounds as I had served the court documents.

Kelly
Turner did not mention the documents served by me in any shape or
form. I said openly that I did not wish to answer any questions and
Kelly Turner, HR Manager, responded by saying, “I'll
keep asking the questions even if you don't want to answer them.”
The
interrogation lasted roughly an hour. A short time after I returned
to my chef's station, Assistant Store Manager Lynn Walbourne came up
to me. She walked into the station area from behind, I turned on my
recorder, then she began to open the cupboard doors. I asked what
she was looking for as she continued to open the doors and look
through everything. Walbourne said that she was looking for napkins
as there was to be a “Food Fest” – that was a lie. That “Food
Fest” was not scheduled for more than a week ahead. She continued
to go through every cupboard and drawer systematically. Finally she
opened the last drawer where I had my recipes and some personal
papers. I told her that what she was doing was in breach of
legislation, her response was “This
is Sobeys' property, and I can do what I want.”
The search was humiliating in font of all staff and my regular
customers. I followed Walbourne when she left my station and asked
why did she do that, that it was absolutely humiliating. Her
response was “I
am sorry Alex, they told me.”
I asked who were the “they,” she refused to respond. Later,
Lynn Walbourne's account of this situation intentionally omitted all
of the facts of the search, and the fact that I was submitted to
further searches every day for almost a week.